I was browsing through the TSB's in the sticky section and saw that there is one from 2004 that corrects the cold-start 1-second engine rattle.

My car does that. Only one time per day, the first start in the morning. After that quiet as a mouse and smooth all day.

It was not a recall so I'm not inclined to get it fixed (replace the valve timing sprocket) at a dealer, hopefully it does not have any bad ramifications in the future.

Does yours make the 1-second rattle?

 

mine does...doesnt cause any problems so never looked into it lol

 

x2

 

Yup mine too

 

Here is the link to the TSB that came out on it. Wonder what that cost them to fix under warranty...

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB03-060.pdf

 

Yep, but with just under 188k miles on my car, it hasn't seemed to affect the longevity of the engine.

 

That's good news, Scott.
Looks like the majority of folks signing in have had the rattle.

 

Had it since the warranty expired around 60k miles.. I am at 77k now and doesnt seem to be an issue...

 

Yeah mine does it occasionally. No problems though don't worry about it. I'm at 130K and running fine.

 

My car has had the rattle since about 125k. Now at 178k, and still no issues. Just a rattle here and there.

 

Mine rattles at cold starts and it rattles if it sits longer than 30 min..

 

It's just not getting oil pressure right away.. This is normal.

My car does it... Both my cars do it..

 

x3

 

Mine rattled louder when I put regular 10W-40 in the engine (in an attempt to quell some of the oil usage). I'm now running Rotella T synthetic 5W-40 and the rattle is definitely not as loud, but it's still there. It's worst obviously in the mornings but it doesn't really bother me.

 

My '08 VQ also does it, tho with only 38k on it, you'd think it wouldn't. Oh well, I ain't sweatin it.

 

Mine's done it so long, I forgot when it started.

Generally - tho, I think we've all agreed that the Fix is worse than the symptom -- meaning, tearing-down the top-end of the engine to replace the VTC gear, isn't worth the time or effort.

Do you REALLY want one of those Nissan Mechs messing with your Valve-Train?!

Something to the effect of oil leaking-down out of the cam chain tensioners between starts/stops -- is what i recall the symptom, which is really no big deal.

I can recall NO REPORTS of this part/s failing due to the "grinding".

LIve with it -- most of us do!

gr

 

sounds like the noise yall are mentioning is caused by the timing chain 'tensioner' i use to have the same rattle at start up in my 88 toyota pickup AFTER i blew my headgasket. mechanic told me that he tensioner was slightly loose but it was nothing to be concerned of, i'd just have that rattle at start up.

as far as my max goes, i cant say that i do have that rattle...

 

It's more common on the 5.5 than it is on the 5th gen. If you're outside of warranty, it's one of those, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it," sort of TSBs. It doesn't affect vehicle performance it all. It's just noisy.

 

I've been having the rattle since I bought the car @ 77K mile. Now 102K miles and it hasn't caused any problems.

The other day, I heard some guy starting his Murano on the parking lot of a store, and it made the exact same rattle.

 

oh ok...and...here's my newb question of the day..what's TSB?

 

Technical Service Bulletin.

 

ahh..now i'm going back to delete my previous post lol

 

I think the rattle is a hit-or-miss thing. I know a few people with 5.5s that have zero issues with a startup rattle. However, those cars burn oil.

Most of the cars I know with the rattle don't burn oil. So I don't know what kind of trade-off that is.

 

im at 138k, just bought the car at 137k and havent had a rattle yet, is it like a idol drop or what, i havent felt a rattle and its like 30 in the mornings lol. but i did have a g20 with 2 missfiring cylenders so im used to rattling lol.

 

no, you will hear the rattle, you wont feel it..itll come from teh engine compartment

lol i think i'll take the rattle opposed to the losing oil

 

It's just noise. It's something to do with one of the timing sprockets (or both if you're that unlucky). It really won't do anything to the car...once the engine gets oil up into all the parts, the rattle goes away.

 

mine does sometimes, although i noticed now that i have switched to synthetic oil it rattles a bit louder when i drive it time to go back to dino oil

only 82k on it

 

Yeah, I'll chime in on "No rattle, but burns oil."

 

Mine burns oil, and has the rattle. Yay.

 

I had the startup rattle and lived with it for 2 years until it started to happen more frequently (more than just cold starts) and last a bit longer than a second. I decided to pull the engine, pull it apart and look at everything. I found one of the tensioners was bad but I decided while I'm in there I might as well replace the chains, all tensioners & guides, water pump, along with all the seals and o-rings plus the rear bank intake cam and sprocket (stretched them at the alignment pin trying to loosen the nut) but now that she's back together she runs as good as new and hasn't had even the slightest rattle which I love! Oh I forgot to mention, the new intake cam sprocket Dave B sent looked to be an updated version (1-piece instead of 2 piece)

Now after the cost of all those parts I need to come up with some more money to do my brakes & wheel bearings, and as soon as that's done it will probably be time for new tires.. It never ends lol

 

My car did both before the fix

 

How many miles on the VQ when you pulled it and replaced all that stuff?

What did all those parts cost, and how many hours did it take to do it?

 

It had 103k miles. The parts are not cheap. I think for the timing chains, tensioners, guides, seals, o-rings and water pump it was a tad over $600 The intake cam and sprocket was just under $500 IIRC but don't break those in the process and you wont have to worry about them lol. I worked out in my shop a couple hours a day, here and there after work but not every day. It took about 5 weeks but some of that time was spent waiting on parts to ship, running back and forth to the parts store for odds and ends, and just other responsibilities getting in the way.

 

yeah i got an 03 and i got it when it had 55k and it rattled and i got just over 90k now...still rattles and NO oil burning....and runs strong and quite after that!!

 

You say, the car stopped burning oil???
Did you replace the piston (oil) rings as well?

 

Did both now only burns oil lol

 

mine does it. just dry timing chain guides. perfectly normal. once oil pressure comes up it will go away.

 

I wonder if a little of that Lucas oil treatment they use in the demo gear-thingy at NAPA auto parts would cure it.

 

I've found that just keeping my oil topped off and changed regularly makes the rattle considerably quieter than it has been in the past.

I don't think the Lucas stuff does much more than thicken the oil up. Which, when you think about it, in the winter weather, probably isn't the best thing for our engines.

Then again, you're also in So Cal...

 

Mine does real quick on start up then goes away quickly!!